I usually found my lower torso bitten by fleas after duty. I am working in a tertiary hospital and some patients with hygienic problem and in low socio-economic status have it with them. We already have flea controller but it has no good getting rid of the fleas. What's worst is I found out that I carry these fleas with me from hospital to home. I already had my house treated from fleas. The thing is, how can I prevent the fleas coming to me and sticking to my clothes?
You definitely need to report the situation to housekeeping. Most hospitals have a "vector control" person who is tasked w/taking care of insects and rodents, etc., you should be able to access he/she via housekeeping.
Meanwhile, there are good suggestions here, but the hospital must solve the problem. If a pt or visitor encounters fleas or whatever, they would have every right to report the hospital to public health officials. That would result in a huge fine, being unaccredited, or even being closed until the problem IS solved.
Agree. When in the military, we would wear flea collars although this is not recommended.
Never heard of the flea collar in the vacuum cleaner, but it makes good sense.
I do a lot of hiking, and DEET insect repellent applied to clothing (not skin) works well at keeping insects under control. I passed some on to a home health nurse friend who had a patient at an infected location (lots of dogs, cats, etc) and she said it worked for her.
In my family, I am the most prone when it comes to flea bites. It must be something that they smell in my blood...seriously! I'm the only one they bite. Plus I observed that when I'm wearing white socks, they love to jump in and dig through the socks to bite me (but makes it easier for me to notice them). Like all posters said, wear some OFF lotion, and get some pest control.
I like the idea of putting a collar in the vaccum cleaner. Never thought of that before!
They are fleas, I'm sure. You don't see scabies. They are microscopic. These fleas, I found it in my skin jumping and in my bedsheets that's why I had the whole house treated with fleas bomb and shampooed the carpet.
Thanks to you all for your advice. My department has treated the fleas for several times and we have a flea controller. The problem is, we cannot monitor the patients who are bringing the fleas to the ward. These are patients with hygienic problem, wearing the same clothes all the time. I am in dialysis ward and you can see patients coming one day then after two days coming back wearing the same clothes plus they bring their own blanket or throw rug.
I will do change clothes after work. I will try the Avon soft oil and the Deet insect repellent. I'm not quite sure if we have it here.
When I was in the army we wore flea collars just above our boots to repel chiggers. It worked against chiggers, and being that they are called "flea collars" it might work on fleas too. Human fleas are supposedly different from dog fleas though.
Thanks guys! Whoa! I didn't know that lots were also bugged down by the fleas. I finally got a solution and it worked. Well, fleas still coming to me during work but never I bring it home. What I do is chuck away into the laundry bin the scrub suit I used the whole day, have a shower and wear new scrubs when I go home. I also wear different shoes when I go home. So basically, I only brought home my undergarments (which I sealed in a plastic bag) and nothing else. What a success!
So how is the facility doing with the flea problem over these past few months? Have any new policies or practices been implemented? Any new interventions for the flea carrying patients?
We just have flea spray but it's doing less effect. We are also supplied with flea repellent lotion and very useful. The problem is that patients are bringing their blankets and jackets. We can't hardly do anything to stop them. The best is not having a shower after work in the hospital and putting my other used clothes in a sealed bag to be washed at home.
caliotter3
38,333 Posts
Agree. When in the military, we would wear flea collars although this is not recommended.